1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automotive wheel covers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years decorative automotive vehicle wheel covers have become quite fashionable and commercially popular. Conventional automotive vehicle hubcaps are formed of stamped sheet metal having inner and outer surfaces and have a deformed edge ring crimped therein. The deformed edge ring extends inwardly to grip a vehicle tire rim. One popular style of decorative automotive wheel cover provides an annular wire basket with interconnected wire spokes thereon. The wire basket seats against the outer surface of the stamped sheet metal hub cover and is held in place by a central retention ring that has a perimeter configured to receive the radially inner ends of the wire spokes and an overlying hubcap which bears against the retention ring and is threadably engaged with a stud, nipple, or tapped bore located at the center of the hub cover. The resulting structure visually simulates a more expensive spoked automobile wheel in which a tire is carried on a wheel having a tire rim that is secured to a central axial wheel hub by means of a multiplicity of spokes. Decorative wheel covers of this type simulating such an appearance are quite attractive, but their cost is only a fraction of the cost of an actual spoked automobile wheel.
Because of their attractiveness and value, actual spoked automotive vehicle wheels are freequently stolen, oftentimes right off of the vehicle. Accordingly, automobile wheel cover locks have been used to prevent such theft. Although wheel covers with wire spokes thereon simulated to resemble the construction of an actual spoked wheel are considerably cheaper than true spoked wheels, the authentic appearance and the attractiveness of such wheel covers has likewise resulted in an alarming rate of theft. While hubcap locks have been developed which hinder the removal of wheel covers as well as entire vehicle wheels, a wheel cover having a hub cover that is convertible to accommodate a lock, has not heretofore been available.
For some time, certain types of wheel covers have been constructed to accommodate wheel cover locks, but in conventional wheel covers such locks are a necessary adjunct to the wheel cover and such wheel covers cannot be used without a wheel cover lock especially designed for the wheel cover involved. Conversely, those conventional wheel covers which are initially manufactured without a locking mechanism cannot be converted to adapt to a locking system. Rather, if an individual purchases wheel covers not adapted for use with wheel cover locks, but later determines that wheel cover locks are financially warranted, the only recourse has been to purchase an entire new set of automotive vehicle wheel covers especially designed for use with wheel cover locks.
Various problems also exist in using vehicle wheel cover locks currently available. In the past, adjustments for the hub spacers for vehicle wheel cover locks have only been provided by utilizing a plurality of set, spaced holes in the pads of the feet of the hub spacers to bring a tapped bore in such a hub spacer into registration with the axial center of the wheel. Incremental adjustment of this type has been imprecise and mounting of a locking hubcap has typically been off center. This has proven particularly disadvantageous where a configured retention ring is utilized to fit over the inwardly extending ends of the wire spokes in the wire basket, since proper seating of the retention ring requires precise axial placement.
The prior wheel cover locking mechanisms have also failed to provide for differences in distances which vehicle wheel hub covers extend out from the vehicle wheel. While some hub covers are relatively shallow and the centers thereof reside fairly close to the wheel, other hub covers extend much further out from the center of the wheel.